Good idea. No matter how I try, I can't summon up any more 'garden' sleeves.Nice to see the the artwork of Marcus Keef is evident on at least 3 of these.http://rateyourmusic.com/list/alabaster ... ographer_/He could have included Rod's "An Old Raincoat" sleeve - but it probably doesn't do anyone any favours these days. That Trees album? - great cover, but I had never heard it. Bought a CD copy in a local library sale last year for £1. Not for me...

I find the 1998 explanation below, less silly than the 1972 one. But I think its strength is probably its silliness (especially David Jackson's attire) in any case:

"The picture inside was completely spontaneous (in form!) - originally we'd intended a picture of us playing Crowborough tennis, a VdGG invention involving the table we're standing on and the football under Dave's arm... I won't try to explain the rules, as it's quite complicated, but a very energetic game of skill!! So we took lots of shots of that (all of which are equally weird, and some of which may yet be used) and then had a few frames left, so got into the psychedelic Nazi's trip! When we saw the effect, the pose, infra red film and all, we instantly overcame any inhibitions about freaking people, and knew it HAD to be that! The black shirts and yellow ties, incidentally, are not as directly connected to it as might be thought... they arose from conversations in the making of PH, in which we decided that we were going so far out inside (you can take that any way you want, musically, emotionally, psychically), that all we could do was have a "blackshirts" society to denote our outsanity. It's a bit of a self-defeating concept, but only 1/4 serious!! So for this cover, this idea came back! I hope all that makes some sense, but it's difficult, because people know us through the music, yet this is only peripherally in the music, and has more to do with the unrealities in which we live....(guarded) explanations in song on the next album, I hope!!" - Peter Hammill in a letter to Jem Shotts, 21st February 1972

"The pose was in ironic reference to a statue in Kaiserslautern which had given us chills." - Peter Hammill in an interview with Mju:zik magazine, February 1998